Outsider
by Misoka Kai
Summary: Harvest Moon - More Friends of Mineral Town. She loved Gray. It was love at the first sight. But then, the blacksmith's apprentice and the librarian girl looks good together. And thinking of it, they've been together for so long while she's just moved in as a farmer, an outsider. One-shot.


**A/N: So, I've played this game before, seriously, it's Harvest Moon, it's been there for a long time already, but then I replay this version and saw the events of Mary and Gary. And I was like. Damn it, why must Mary have to be that kind to him, I mean, I'm not that fond of her art except when it's the smile and laugh expression. And I was so annoyed and angry at her and the way Gray was really infatuated with her too... ...I pick her for my Friends of Mineral Town version though. But there, the interaction between Mary and Gray isn't as obvious as this! And the main character too! She was so silent, never uttering a single word except nodding or shaking head or being tired! ...Well I know in the actual thing she probably won't do just that but it makes me feel she's like the quiet type that can only see from afar when her crush is being taken away and I was like askjdhasdjkla why won't you do a thing?!**

 **Makes me remind of my sad life of always falling for boys that already has someone or at least a girl with love interests alert with them. /sigh/**

 **Anyway, I shall stop my rantings. English is not my first language so I'm sorry for any grammatical or vocabulary mistakes. :)**

 **Disclaimer: Harvest Moon isn't mine... Played many versions of it though not all. :D**

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Outsider **  
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 **~Spring**

I finally decided to quit my job, tempted by the advertisement saying 'Fun Life in Farm'. I guessed it was also originally my fault to be so reckless and getting my hopes up like that. I was probably too tired of the dull life of the city already.

I arrived at the farm, full of weeds and branches and stones, even the size of _boulders_ and tree stumps! How long was this farm abandoned? The mayor came. The nerve of him to laugh at me! I wasn't one to back down just easily though. Besides, a clean start is more challenging than just caring for a farm that had been completed.

'It's fine, I could do it', was what I keep on chanted on my mind.

The next day, I made sure to go around town, introducing myself to everyone, at least so that I could know where I needed to go if I needed a certain help in something. That's when I met him, the blacksmith's grandson.

"You're the one moving to farm?" he said, expressionless. "What's your name?"

My heart skipped a bit. He was a fine young man, I admit, but I felt something, some kind of _pull_ that drew me to him. And really, it was love at first sight and it was stupid. Stuttering a bit, I told him my name in which he tried it out and gave a small smile to me. "Nice to meet you", he said and I swore I could just die on that place right then and there.

I started giving him gifts after that, going to the blacksmith everyday just to talk to him, even for just a small chit-chat. I would always bring something with me, an ore most likely, he seemed to really like those things. It was embarrassing enough to visit him everyday, but giving him gifts too? I ended up bringing everyday gifts to some of the townspeople, just for a cover up. Of course the only male I gave gift to was only him.

He never suspected a single thing.

I realized something though. Once, when I visited the blacksmith, the librarian girl was there… Mary, I think? She was talking to the blacksmith, Saibara. She was all smiling and thanking Saibara, in which he replied to with the same enthusiasm, if not more. Suddenly, Gray made a yelp. He seemed to have gotten hurt. I wanted to help him but Mary was closer and I was pretty sure she was better prepared on injuries like this than I was.

Who was I kidding? I worked in a farm, covered with small cuts and bruises all over. Life in farm was harsher than I thought after all. It had become a part of everyday in my life that I didn't bother with them at all.

I became self-conscious suddenly. Mary was really tidy and neat and beautiful. She looked very intelligent to, especially with her status as a 'librarian'. I never visited it but oftentimes I saw Gray visiting it after work. I never thought much about it but now…

I left the place, the last thing I saw Mary's relieved smile and Gray's embarrassed smile.

 **~Summer**

I didn't give up. I mentioned it before, I was not one to easily back away from a challenge. I was getting closer and closer to Gray each day, I could feel it. But then again, so were he and Mary. And Mary, too, seemed to accept his advances. Gray wasn't the flirting type. He was awkward around Mary. But he tried his best. And for me, the time when Gray was trying his best like that, it was his coolest.

As close as I was to Gray, I was simply a 'friend' to him though. We became friends to the point that Gray would ask me for advice. Advice on going after Mary. Yes, that's what we mostly talked about, Mary, Mary, Mary, and Mary. He asked me once about the boy I like, but I quickly changed the topic, setting it to Mary once more because we almost never talked about anything but her and thus that's the only thing I could think of.

He never asked after that.

Life in farm was great. It was so much different with so many things to do than life in city can offer. The townspeople were really kind, they came to like me a lot, especially because I often brought gifts from the mountain or vegetables from my fields. But there were times, when I saw Mary and Gray together, I felt like suffocating and wanted to run away, away from the farm, away from the world, away from everything.

Elli became my best friend. She loved the flowers I brought from the mountain for her and her grandmother. I would often confide to her about everything in which she would listen to my every feeling and would never fail to cheer me up every time. I guessed the nurse role fit her perfectly.

~Autumn

The leaves fell slowly. The farm was almost always covered with dry leaves. When there's time, I would sometime clean the fields around as much as I could. Not much considering the size of the farm itself. Apples were on season though. There were so many apples around on this season, I would harvest them almost everyday.

As the weather became colder and the trees became drier, I couldn't help but feel myself getting colder too.

I felt this icy coldness growing inside my heart, freezing me in and out. I hated Mary, wanted to hate her, but couldn't. I simply couldn't. They were so happy and perfect together, a blacksmith-in-training and a calm librarian, a perfect match. She would always give advice to Gray. Compared to her, I…

Despite all of this though, I reassured myself that I'm fine, I just needed to work on my farm. Winter was coming and I better stocked myself with food supply. Winter, after all, was a hibernation season where I couldn't do anything. They said I could mine though. The pond where the Kappa resided would freeze all over and I could access the mine on the middle of the pond. They said it was full of mineral stones.

My farm flourished. It was getting neater and the puppy was now a dog and the foal I got from Barley could now be used to travel around town. He was really handy. The chickens were happy and warm, so were the sheeps and the cows. I couldn't be more happier. But in fact, I wasn't all that happy. I wondered why, this was all I came here for right, to fix the farm, to have a different life. But why…

On the distance, I saw Gary and Mary walking down the road, probably walking to the library. They noticed me and waved a 'hello' at me in which I waved back. It was quite a distance and I didn't feel it was necessary to reply their smiles anyway so I didn't smile.

Elli was worried about me. She said I was smiling less and less, felt as if I changed. Not in a bad or good way for other people but she was pretty sure it was bad for myself. I didn't understand, I didn't feel like I change, I felt like I was the same as always. What changed in me?

~Winter

The snow covered the fields all over. I had more spare time than ever, all I did was simply checked on the animals in which I'd trusted the task to the Harvest Sprites or mining on the Kappa's pond if I felt like it. I rarely went downtown. I didn't see the point anymore.

One day, a letter arrived from the city. He said he's coming in two days. I prepared my cottage for him. Two days later, he came, the same as I remembered him.

"Hey, sis", he said. He looked at me all over. "What happened?"

Was I that easy to read or was it him that could read him better than anyone else?

Tears immediately flowed and I hugged him. He carried me inside while I still held on to him and cried. It felt like the dam finally broke, seeing a familiar face. He listened to my stories, occasionally reassuring me that it'll be fine, rubbing circles on my back.

He was always a good little brother.

A knock sounded on the door. And then Gray's voice. My heart skipped a beat and I immediately went to open the door. He burst in, looking angry. He moved me to behind him and looked around, spotting my little brother and asked what business did he have in my house.

I felt touched that he still cared for me. It was quite funny seeing him surprised to find out that he was my little brother and not some stranger. He apologized. Mary then came. They were in fact together when they spotted me being carried by my little brother into my house and decided to 'rescue' me. We had a nice little chat before they went on their way.

I looked at the couple, they were already in terms of holding hands. In the distance after they left, I could see them leaning to each other.

No, they already kissed. And the scene shattered my heart to million pieces.

"Sister?" I heard my little brother calling me but it felt like he was calling from somewhere faraway.

I didn't know where I was going. My feet moved by itself. I was a mere puppet by now, all empty shell. When I came to, I was on the valley, on the mouth of a cave, hidden from view by the shrubberies around.

I looked at the cave and it felt like it was calling me. There was nothing to lose anyway, I thought as I stepped into the cave and slowly walked inside. The surroundings got darker and darker until I couldn't see even myself.

Strangely enough, the inside of the cave was warm instead of frozen as I thought it would be.

I remembered.

 _Restart Data?_

 _Yes No_

I did this before too.

 _ **Yes**_

I was stuck in this loop, never coming out.

 _Restarting data…_

Every time, it's the same result, Gray and Mary would end up together. Where did I do wrong I wonder?

Slowly, the darkness became blinding light.

What would I get by restarting it again? Wouldn't the result be the same? How many years had it been already? 10… 20…? I'd lost count. I was pretty sure the Harvest Goddess had known all along, that was why she knew my name, she couldn't help but look at me with pity on her eyes sometime.

 _Data successfully restarted!_

 **~Spring**

I stood in front of what supposed to be a field. It was full of weeds and branches and stones, even on the size of boulders, and not to mention there were also tree stumps. I had recklessly quitted my job on the city for this piece of… land? Fine, I wasn't going to give up that easily anyway.

But, did something like this happened before?

…Nah, there's no way, this was my first time out of the city after all.

I heard the sound of crunching grass and turned to look behind. Standing there was a blond male wearing a hat labeled 'UMA'.

"You're the one moving into the farm? What's your name?" he said.

I looked at him. It was love at first sight.

 _~Owari_

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 **A/N: So. I'm done. instead of using the ctrl+R and choose 'New Game' kind of thingy, I turned it into a _Mushishi_ story. ...Anyone knows that? That was really random I know but the setting, the forest and mountain, reminds me of that anime and the way the character enters a cave and got transported back to the past. Decided to use that then. Just think of it as a sort of 'New Game'. And at the end, I made Gray the one to greet her first in the farm yeah. It's different from the previous ones and I hope you guys are catching the fact that this... _life_ , may ends better than the previous ones. ...And hopefully she doesn't need to 'New Game' anymore.**

 **Anyways, I hope you enjoyed it and thanks for reading! :)**

 **-Kai**


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